Albert Camus

Albert Camus was born in 1913 and was a chief literary figure in non-metropolitan French Literature. In addition, he was also a journalist and regarded as a keen philosopher of the 20th century. His origins lied in Algeria, and there are major influences in his thoughts and work from there.

He was born to semi-proletarian parents, who were attached to circles with strong revolutionary tendencies and also had a profound interest in philosophy. Camus came to France when he was 25 years old. Albert Camus always had strong political tendencies; the man in him and those times met, which led to his involvement in the resistance movement. After the liberation period was over, he became a columnist with the newspaper, Combat. However, most of his journalistic activities and propaganda were merely responses to the incessant demands of the time. During the year of 1947, Camus gave up working as a political journalist and apart from writing literary fiction and essays, was also extremely pro-active in the theatre as producer and playwright. He adapted several plays by Calderon, Dino Buzzati, Lope de Vega, and Faulkner’sRequiem for a Nun. His genuine love for theater can be attributed to his membership in L’Equipe, an Algerian theatre group whose “collective creation” Révolte dans les Asturies was debarred for political reasons.

In the years 1934-1936, he was married to Simone Hie, who was the daughter of a rich ophthalmologist. Camus’s entry in the Communist Part in 1934 was mostly due to the increase in fascism in Europe, as he was entrusted with the responsibility of doing propaganda work among the Muslims. However, his association with the Communist party could not be sustained, and by 1935 he felt a sense of disillusionment. Therefore, he invested all his creative energies into the theatre group, Theatre du Travail, where he simultaneously worked as an actor, director, and playwright. Consequently, he also formed a philosophy of moralism that further led to his bizarre ideas. He posited that this state can only exist if God is absent.

After some time, Camus left Algiers to travel Central Europe. Long-standing problems with Simone, due to her intense drug addiction, led to the break-up of their marriage. However, despite problems, he still managed to produce his own play that year – The Revolt in Austria. In 1937, Albert also managed to complete his book – A Happy Death, although it wasn’t published during the time he was alive.

On the 4th of January 1960, Camus was killed in a car accident at Villeblevin. A Happy Death and The First Man were published decades later. The unexpected death marked the loss of one of the greatest existentialist philosophers.